The Repair Shop Episode 22 (BBC One Wednesday 29 March 2023)

Today Wednesday 29 March 2023, there is a new episode of The Repair Shop.

Episode 22 The group gives new life to a rusty military bugle, a portable radio that played in a hair salon, a matchstick Big Ben clock, and a pair of children’s shoes that symbolise a family’s story of survival.

First to arrive are Nicky and veteran Billy, who are carrying a bugle that belonged to Nicky’s great-grandfather. The once-shiny surface of the trumpet is now covered in a multitude of dents and dinks, showing that it has seen better days. Billy served for 20 years in the military before an infection rendered him blind. Now he wishes to have the bugle repaired so that he can use it in his work at the Llandudno centre for blind war veterans.

Restoring a pair of children’s shoes that are over 75 years old is next on the agenda for expert cobbler Dean Westmoreland. Nechama, an 83-year-old Tel Aviv resident, owns the leather footwear. They were her first pair and a touching reminder of the hardships her family went through in the 1940s, when they fled Eastern Europe as Hitler ascended to power in the 1930s.

Charlotte then appears, bearing a matchstick model of Big Ben that is truly a work of art. Just over five feet in height, this model was carefully constructed in 1953 to honour Queen Elizabeth’s coronation and was passed down to Charlotte by her grandmother, Barbara.

Expert electronics restorer Mark Stuckey is tasked with fixing a Russian-made portable radio that barber Karl brought in. His father, Enoch, was a hairdressing industry trailblazer in 1970s and later-era Britain; he ran a chain of successful shops and training facilities. Remembering their father singing along to the radio in the store while entertaining customers is what the radio does best for Karl and his brothers.

Airdate: Wednesday 29 March 2023 at 20:00 on BBC One

Season 2023 Episode 22

The Repair Shop is a workshop of dreams, where broken or damaged cherished family heirlooms are brought back to life.

Furniture restorers, horologists, metal workers, ceramicists, upholsterers and all manner of skilled craftsmen and women have been brought together to work in one extraordinary space, restoring much-loved possessions to their former glory.

Many of these items have incredible stories behind them and a unique place in history: from an accordion played in the Blitz by a woman who is now in her 90s, to a beautifully crafted clock made by a father who was completely blind; a Pinball machine that is currently being used as a kitchen counter, and a Davenport desk with its trademark fake drawers which fooled burglars – and their crowbar.

The Repair Shop is an antidote to our throwaway culture and shines a light on the wonderful treasures to be found in homes across the country.

Featured image credit: BBC One